Wax package



Aug. 14,1934. I F. RIEBEL, JR

WAX PACKAGE Filed June 16, 1933 izwlfl Patented Aug. 14, 1934 UNITED STATES wax menace Frederick Itiebel, In, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Air-Way Electric Appliance Corporation, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application June 16, 1933, Serial No. 676,148

Claims. (CL 206-46) This invention relates to a floor wax-package in the form of a bar of wax encased in a liquidtight, sealed container of 'cellophane" or like material, for use in a particular type of wax 5 applicator which applies pressure to the container to extrude the wax through a slit in the side of the container, formed by cutting the container after it has been inserted in the applicator, such as is disclosed in application Serial No. 613,019.

By first congealing the wax,-it may be placed in its container and the latter sealed in place, without being deformed by the handling. But it has been found that a package thus formed will often bloat when the wax returns to normal tem- M perature, and become unfit for shipment. A package with rounded, bloated sides, is diflicult to pack into cartons, and is subject to the constant danger of the container becoming ruptured and thus unfit for. subsequent use in the type of applicator mentioned.

The present invention solves this problem by the partial evacuation of the air within the container, whereby the container will be intimately pressed against the entire outer surface of the body of wax, by the pressure of air against the exterior of the container, and sealing the container in that state. Thus such space as would normally exist between the surface of the wax and the container, by virtue of a certain small amount of necessary looseness of the container around the bar, will not be filled with air while the bar is cold, but will remain available for accommodation of such air as may be occluded in the body of wax, when the latter expands '35 under the rise in temperature.

By virtue of the tendency of the container walls to pull away from the surface of the bar, the pressure of the air remaining in the wax will be somewhat less than atmospheric pressure, and

the evacuation may be carried to the extent of a material reduction in the internal pressure below external pressure, thereby allowing the air in the wax to expand materially without more 4 than equalizing the outside pressure. Thus the package may be formed so that the container will remain intimately associated with the body of wax and thereby supported against breaking or tearing, until it is punctured for use.

With these and other objectsin view my invention consists in the combination and construction and arrangement of the various parts thereof, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as more fully set forth in the accompanying specifications, pointed out in my claims, and

illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which: 4

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the package.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, a portion of the container being removed to .reveal the body of material within.

Fig. 3 is a view of a step similar to Fig. 2, a slightly modified form of wrapper being disclosed.

Fig. 4 is a view of the same step in connection with a further modified form of wrapper.

Fig.5 is an end sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig- 3.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the bar illustrating the step of conforming the wrapper to the surface of the bar at the end thereof.

The bar of wax 10, after having been congealed and for ed to the desired shape, is slid endwise into a seamless tube container 12 of tough, flexible, impervious material such as cellophane, or is wrapped in a rectangular sheet 13 of such material as shown in Fig. 6 and sealed along a longitudinal seam 14 to form an open ended tube.

One end of the tube is then sealed by inserting either an adhesive or a liquid which will cause the surfaces of the material to weld together, between the adjacent facesof the opposite wall portions of the projecting ends 15 of the tube as shown particularly in Fig. 2. If desired, one end may be thus sealed prior to the insertion of the bar 10.

One of the fiat projecting ends of the container is thence folded up snugly against the end of the bar as at 16 and cemented in that position. The opposed faces of the wall portions of the other end of the container are then spread with the adhesive. A passage 17 oflimited area provides communication between the exterior atmosphere and the interior of the container at this end of the container, and is preferably formed by omitting to close together the wall portions forming said passage.

A hollow needle 18 forms the working nozzle of a suction tool 19 having a hand control valve 20. The suction needle 18 is first brushed with adhesive, and thence is inserted through the restricted passage 1'7 and the valve 20 is opened to exert suction against the interior of the container. The opposed walls of the projecting end portion of the container are drawn snugly about the nozzle 18, to seal the needle in the passage 17 (Fig. 5).

As free air in the spaces between the container and the bar is withdrawn, the container walls will collapse tightly against the bar, and gases occluded in the bar itself will be partially drawn off. The fingers of the operator may be employed as shown in Fig. 6 to press in the end portion of the wrapper against the end of the bar.

Suction is applied for a predetermined length of time, and the needle is thence withdrawn slowly, the operator firmly pressing the container walls together behind the point of the needle, (Fig. 6) and the passage 17 being thus sealed by the adhesive that is transferred from the surface of the needle, or by adhesive applied to the walls prior to the entry of the needle, or by both. The suction will aid in drawing the walls of the passage tightly together. This method of sealing is made possible by applying the suction between adjacent overlying wall portions.

As shown in Fig. 3, the container may be formed of a fiat sheet of material folded over the bar and joined along the longitudinal seam 14, thence sealed at the ends as hereinbefore described.

A variation in the step of avacuating is that shown in Fig. 4 wherein the passage 17, instead of being formed between opposed faces of projecting end faces of the wrapper, is formed between overlapping side portions of the wrapper, in the longitudinal seam 14.

It is to be understood that the present invention, embodied in the novel package identified in the appended claims, is not limited to a package constructed according to the method of evacuation just described, but may be evacuated by any of the standard methods of evacuation, well known in packaging arts,-such as, for instance, sealing the package while it reposes in a vacuum chamber. The particular process above described forms the subject matter of my application Serial No. 607,936, filed April 28, 1932. The present application is a continuation in part thereof.

The present invention deals with a problem which is peculiar to the particular material dealt with, namely, plastic polishing or finishing material such as floor wax, namely, the property which such material has of occluding gases, the property of such gases of expanding under temperature rise, and the necessity for handling such material at low temperature during packaging to avoid deformation of the bar of material. In this respect, the invention is concerned only with a package of such material which has been constructed while the material. was at a temperature sufliciently low to be relatively solid under ordinary handling, i. e., lower than temperatures at which .the package will normally be handled later on during transportation and use.

In addition to making the package unsightly and making it impossible to pack a number of such packages snugly in a carton for safe shipping, the undesirable bloating will interfere with the functioning of the package in use. It will make it difficult to insert the package into the wax applicator, (the container being slitted after such insertion, not before). It will allow the solvents in the waxto exude from the wax into the spaces between the bloated container and the wax. Such exudation will actually occur wherever there is a space into which the solvents may exude, and will reduce the fluidity of the wax to some extent, 1. e., allowit to harden somewhat, a very undesirable effect. Accordingly, the invention provides a package. in which the evacuated container cooperates with the bar of wax directly to maintain the functioning eificiency of the package at a high level.

The present invention provides a package expansion of the remaining occluded gases will not be suflicient to more than offset the pressure differential. As long as the pressure within the container can be kept below or substantially at the level of atmospheric pressure, there will not be the slightest tendency of the container to swell, and a very neat rectangular package with fiat sides, can thus be produced.

I claim as my invention:

1. A package of plastic surface finishing material of a type normally containing occluded gases, packaged at a temperature substantially below normal temperatures to which the package is later subjected, for use in an applicator wherein the material is extruded through an opening in a wall of the package container, comprising: the container, constructed of relatively thin, flexible, impervious material, and a body of the aforesaid material sealed therein, the pressure of the aforesaid occluded gases under normal temperature being insufficient to expand said container away from contact with said body of material.

2. A package of plastic surface finishing material of a type normally containing occluded gases, packaged at a temperature substantially below normal temperatures to which the package is later subjected, for use in an applicator wherein the material is extruded through an opening in a wall of the package container, comprising: the container, constructed of relatively thin, flexible, impervious material, and a body of the aforesaid material sealed therein, the pressure of the aforesaid occluded gases under normal temperature being insuificient to expand said container away from contact with said body of material, whereby the container will adhere snugly to said body under external atmospheric pressure.

3. A package of plastic surface finishing material of a type normally containing occluded gases, packaged at a temperature substantially below normal temperatures to which the package is later subjected, for use in an applicator wherein the material is extruded through an opening in a wall of the package container, comprising: the container, constructed of the material known commercially as cellophane", and a body of the aforesaid material sealed therein, the pressure of the aforesaid occluded gases under normal temperature being insuflicient to expand said container away from contact with said body of material 4. A package of plastic surface finishing-wax normally containing occluded gases, packaged at a temperature substantially below normal temperatures to which the package is later subjected, for use in an applicator wherein the wax is extruded through an opening in a wall of the package container, comprising: the, container, constructed of relatively thin, fiexiblef impervious material, and a body of the aforesaid wax sealed therein, the pressure of the aforesaid occluded gases under normal temperature being insufficient to expand said container away from contact with said body of material.

5. A rectangular package of plastic surface container, comprising: the container constructed relatively thin, flexible, impervioiis material, and a body of the aforesaid material sealed therein, the pressure or the aforesaid occluded gases under normal temperature being insuflicientto expand said container away irom contact with said body or material.

, FREDERICK RIEBEL, Jr. 

